According to the SEC, Mr. Segal allegedly sold what he called certificates of deposit (CDs) to his brokerage customers under the false pretense that he could get them a higher rate of interest than was then available through banks. Mr. Segal allegedly represented to his victims that his CDs were FDIC insured and risk-free. Mr. Segal reportedly defrauded at least fifty investors out of roughly $15.5 million.

As his scheme was unravelling, Mr. Segal allegedly began to steal from his customers’ brokerage accounts by falsifying fraudulent paperwork such as letters of authorization. This fake paperwork reportedly allowed Mr. Segal to withdraw funds from his customers’ accounts without them knowing. Ultimately, in July 2014, the scheme collapsed completely. Mr. Segal has since been barred from the securities industry by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Because Mr. Segal was registered with a broker-dealer, Aegis, at the time he was operating this scheme, investors may be able to recover against the broker-dealer for supervisory failures and negligence. In this way, it is possible that Aegis may be responsible to Mr. Segal’s victims for some or even all of their losses. The same may also apply to Mr. Segal’s prior broker-dealer, Cumberland.